All-New 2022 INFINITI QX55 - Design Performance & Connectivity
23The first crossover from Nissan’s luxury arm pales in comparison with its European rivals. Infiniti has introduced its first crossover. But the $46,500 Infiniti QX55 isn’t really all that new. It’s built on the same platform, with the same engine and interior, as the eight-year-old QX50 SUV also produced by Nissan’s luxury brand. That’s the one, you may recall, that was formerly sold as the Nissan Skyline Crossover and then as the Infiniti EX.
Priced $10,000 higher than its sibling, the QX55 is positioned to feel like the sportier, sexier alternative to the five-passenger QX50.
With an oversize grille reminiscent of others who did it first, and the bare minimum of tech and connectivity needed to earn it entry into the premium
category, the QX55 targets luxury’s big boys: BMW’s X4 ($51,600), Mercedes-Benz’s GLC Coupe ($51,650), Porsche’s Macan ($52,100).
Some contemporary elements, especially the wing-like taillights and wireless options, do blend well with the premium SUV pack. Take the badges off, and you might think this Infiniti is an Audi or a Jaguar but with less technology and leather inside. But those cars boasted first-in-class technologies, signature designs, and roaring performance apropos to their prices. The QX55, which costs just as much, attempts to mimic the trappings of luxury but doesn’t offer good value.
Infiniti's compact QX50 crossover has spawned a fashion maven: the 2022 QX55, which shares 50's platform and mechanicals.
Although from a styling standpoint, it's pretty much identical to its source material from the B-pillar forward, QX55 from its B-pillar aft goes its own way, showing a fastback roof and seductive profile.
Of course, you gotta make some sacrifices in the name of fashion. Compared to QX50, the dashing 55 surrenders an inch-and-a-half of rear head room, 10 cubic feet of seats-folded cargo space and roughly 6 cubes of total interior volume.
Like QX50, which itself debuted in 2019, this new QX55's styling starts with a mug that blends a catfish maw with raptor-eye headlights and slashing front-fascia vents. That remarkable face is capped by a hood that shows raised character creases sharp enough to cut steak, along with edges that overlap the fender crowns! Finally, the draped hood edge melds into a flank-long character line that, unlike 50, runs along 55's flank through the door handles to a virtually deckless rump. Oh, and out back are wide hips and a racy backlight.
Along with that hey-look-at-me haberdashery, QX55 shows a roofline that's 2.2-inches lower while casting an overall shadow that's 1.6-inches longer, despite sharing QX50's 110.2-inch wheelbase.